Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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M.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies intermittent disability claim (ECAB 24-0867)
A Veterans Affairs food service worker sought compensation for intermittent work disability after an accepted injury. The Board found that the medical submissions did not establish a firm diagnosis and reasoned explanation connecting disability on the claimed dates to the accepted injury. It…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders further review after workplace fall (ECAB 24-0819)
A postal city carrier claimed shoulder, knee, and spine conditions after tripping at work in June 2022. The Board found that two treating physicians supplied a reasoned opinion relating several diagnoses to the accepted fall. It directed OWCP to obtain further medical review that addresses those…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies occupational wrist claim (ECAB 24-0752)
A postal rural delivery worker attributed a left wrist condition to repetitive work activities. The Board found that the submitted doctors' reports did not offer an opinion explaining how the accepted job factors caused the condition. It affirmed OWCP's denial of the occupational disease claim.
Secretary of Labor v Kevin Coleman, formerly employed by Carmeuse Lime
Assessment sent to abandoned mine held nonfinal
MSHA proposed an individual penalty against former mine supervisor Kevin Coleman under section 110(c). MSHA had been told to send case materials to Coleman's counsel, but it mailed the assessment to a mine that was closed and listed as abandoned. The Postal Service returned the assessment, and MSHA…
B.K. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses appeal filed after 180 days (ECAB 24-0945)
A postal worker appealed a June 21, 2023 OWCP decision in September 2024. The Board found that the 180-day appeal period had expired in December 2023 and that the worker had not shown compelling circumstances supported by documentation for the delay. It dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction…
S.T. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons
Board grants worker request to dismiss appeal (ECAB 24-0935)
A federal prison employee appealed a September 2024 OWCP decision. The employee's lawyer later asked the Board to dismiss the appeal. The Board granted that request and closed the docket without deciding the merits of the OWCP decision.
P.D. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds federal retirement overpayment finding (ECAB 24-0923)
A postal worker received Office of Personnel Management retirement benefits and FECA wage-loss compensation for the same period without an appropriate offset. The Board upheld OWCP's $38,688.75 overpayment finding for December 2021 through December 2022. It found the worker without fault but…
T.P. and Department of the Air Force
Board denies hearing-loss schedule award (ECAB 24-0830)
An Air Force painter had work-related bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus after noise exposure. The Board found that the audiometric evidence did not establish a ratable hearing impairment under the applicable schedule-award method. It affirmed OWCP's denial of a schedule award. The worker may seek…
C.M. and Department of Homeland Security
Board denies recurrence of disability claim (ECAB 24-0801)
A Homeland Security employee sought compensation for renewed work disability beginning in September 2014 after an accepted employment injury. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately connect the claimed recurrence to the accepted May 2014 injury. Some reports discussed other…
P.P. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
Board grants withdrawal of appeal (ECAB 24-0796)
A Food Safety and Inspection Service employee appealed a June 2024 OWCP decision. The employee later asked to withdraw the Board appeal. The Board granted the request and dismissed the appeal without addressing the merits of the OWCP decision.
D.N. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds benefit forfeiture and overpayment (ECAB 24-0767)
A postal letter carrier received compensation while failing to report employment activities and earnings on required forms. The Board found that the failure was knowing and upheld forfeiture of compensation from September 2018 through December 2019. It affirmed OWCP's resulting $52,631.72…
B.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board grants requested dismissal of appeal (ECAB 24-0523)
A postal employee appealed an April 2024 OWCP decision. The employee's lawyer later asked the Board to dismiss the appeal. The Board granted the request and closed the docket without reviewing the OWCP decision on the merits.
American Federation of Government Employees, National Veterans Affairs Council 53 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs
AFGE National Veterans Affairs Council 53 and VA (FLRA 0-AR-5956): Authority upholds prospective awards bargaining remedy
A VA reorganization placed employees from three clinical contact centers under one performance-award budget, causing some employees to receive smaller percentage-based awards than under their former facilities' flat-sum systems. An arbitrator found that the agency committed an unfair labor practice…
Secretary of Labor v. Patton Mining, LLC
Isolated failure to return contest form excused
Patton decided to contest four of nineteen violations and promptly paid the penalties for the other fifteen. Its service provider's safety director mistakenly failed to return the contest form to MSHA. Patton discovered the omission after receiving a delinquency notice, investigated immediately…
Roger L. Malcomb v. Laurel Creek Mining Company
Malcomb v. Laurel Creek Mining Company (BRB 24-0192 and 24-0192 BLA-A): benefits denial affirmed
Roger Malcomb sought black lung benefits through a subsequent claim after 10.55 years of coal mine work. An administrative law judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment but concluded that Malcomb had not established pneumoconiosis. Malcomb challenged the treatment of doctors who…
Alex Gibson v. Enterprise Mining Company, LLC
Gibson v. Enterprise Mining Company (BRB 23-0494): disability finding vacated and remanded
Alex Gibson sought black lung benefits through a subsequent claim after 22 years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found that the objective studies did not establish total disability and denied benefits. The Board upheld the unchallenged study findings but found that the…
Robert B. Rule v. Rhino Energy, LLC
Rule v. Rhino Energy (BRB 23-0451): benefits award and payer finding affirmed
Robert Rule received black lung benefits after 38 years of underground coal mine work. Rhino Energy did not challenge his entitlement but argued that a later employer, Wildcat Energy, or the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund should pay. The Board found that Rule had worked for Wildcat for only ten…
Jennifer Wesson v. 3MC Mobile & Mechanical Repair
Wesson v. 3MC Mobile & Mechanical Repair (BRB 23-0362): weekly wage calculation affirmed
Jennifer Wesson injured her knee while working on fire watch for a ship repair company. The parties resolved most benefit issues but disputed whether her $50 daily travel allowance counted as wages and which weeks of pay should be used to calculate her average weekly wage. The administrative law…
G.P. and Defense Agencies, Fort Lewis Defense Automated Printing Service
Board upholds termination of back-injury wage benefits (ECAB 24-0763)
A federal printing service worker challenged the end of wage-loss compensation for a 1997 back injury. The Board gave weight to an impartial medical examiner who found that the accepted conditions had resolved and that she could return to her date-of-injury job. It affirmed termination effective…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies remaining disability dates and late reviews (ECAB 24-0722)
A postal mail processing clerk sought compensation for additional intermittent disability dates in 2023 after an accepted injury. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish disability caused by the accepted injury on the remaining claimed dates. It also upheld OWCP's denial of her…
E.F. and Department of Homeland Security
Board rejects inflation adjustment to schedule award (ECAB 23-0505)
A Homeland Security transportation security officer challenged the pay rate used for her left arm schedule award. She sought consumer price index increases dating from her 2008 injury. The Board found that she had received no prior wage-loss compensation for disability from that injury, so the…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders combined review of left arm impairment (ECAB 23-0088)
A postal rural carrier sought a schedule award above the 12 percent left arm impairment previously awarded. The Board found that OWCP needed to combine related claim files, prepare an accurate statement of accepted facts, and obtain a supplemental medical opinion before deciding any increase. It…
D.T. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses benefit termination and remands added conditions (ECAB 22-0206)
A postal employee challenged OWCP's termination of wage-loss and medical benefits from an accepted injury and sought to add several mental health diagnoses to the accepted claim. The Board found that OWCP had not justified terminating the existing benefits, so it reversed that decision. It also set…
United States Department of Defense, U.S. Marine Corps, MAGTFTC, MCAGCC, MCCS, Twentynine Palms, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2018
Marine Corps Twentynine Palms and AFGE Local 2018 (FLRA 0-AR-5922): Authority narrows overtime award
Nonappropriated-fund Marine Corps employees in California sought overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act and California law. An arbitrator awarded federal overtime for work beyond 40 hours per week and additional California daily and double-time overtime, using a three-year recovery period and…
D.M. and Department of Homeland Security
Board upholds denial of late reconsideration (ECAB 24-0677)
A Homeland Security employee sought reconsideration of an earlier OWCP claim decision. The Board found that the request was filed after the one-year window and that the submitted material did not demonstrate clear evidence of error. It affirmed OWCP's refusal to reopen the merits of the claim.
D.M. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Board remands emotional claim after finding work factor (ECAB 24-0421)
A Border Patrol agent reported an emotional condition after receiving an improper message connected to a leave request. The Board found that her supervisor had improperly allowed a nonemployee spouse to respond to the official request, establishing a compensable employment factor. OWCP had not…
C.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Air Marshal Service
Board orders specialist review of added conditions (ECAB 23-0239)
A federal air marshal sought to add medical conditions to an accepted claim from a 2012 work injury. The Board found that the record needed further medical development on whether those conditions were caused by, or resulted from, the accepted injury. It set aside OWCP's decision and directed…
M.D. and Department of the Air Force
Board remands vaccine injury claim for required procedure (ECAB 22-1340)
An Air Force information technology worker claimed a shoulder condition after a required COVID-19 vaccination. OWCP denied the claim under ordinary medical causation analysis. The Board found that OWCP had not considered the special procedures in FECA Bulletin No. 22-01 for federally mandated…
P.N. and Department of the Army
Board orders vaccine claim review under FECA guidance (ECAB 22-1181)
An Army computer scientist claimed serious cardiac conditions after a required COVID-19 vaccination. OWCP denied the claim on medical causation grounds without applying its special procedure for federally mandated vaccination claims. The Board set aside that decision and directed OWCP to apply FECA…
T.S. and Department of the Navy
Board orders special review of vaccine reaction claim (ECAB 22-1089)
A Navy equipment mechanic reported symptoms including severe headaches after a COVID-19 vaccination. OWCP denied her claim under ordinary medical causation analysis. The Board found that OWCP had not applied the special guidance for claims arising from a federally mandated vaccination. It set aside…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt Inc.
Fire, ventilation, monitoring, cable, and ground-control citations split
The case addressed citations arising from a loader fire, smoke crossing an evacuation route, an atmospheric monitoring outage, a failed high-voltage cable splice, and loose ground above a traveled area at Morton Salt's underground mine. The judge affirmed S&S citations for allowing the known…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Seagoville, Texas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1637, Council of Prison Locals 33
Federal Correctional Institution Seagoville and AFGE Local 1637 (FLRA 0-AR-5791): Authority sets aside overtime remedy
Federal Correctional Institution Seagoville temporarily reassigned an officer and barred overtime while investigating alleged misconduct, then found no misconduct and restored the officer's prior duties. An arbitrator found the union's grievance timely for later reassignments that had not been…
Secretary of Labor v. Muhlenberg County Coal Resources, Inc.
Ignored certified-mail notices barred reopening
Muhlenberg claimed that a proposed assessment was misdelivered because no authorized recipient was available when certified mail arrived. Postal records showed that notices were left at the company's address twice. The Commission held that this was not a postal mistake because the assessment was…
M.S. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
Board requires review of omitted medical reports (ECAB 24-0821)
A federal transportation worker sought total disability compensation after an accepted 2018 injury. OWCP denied the claim despite receiving two treating neurologist reports before its decision. The Board found that OWCP had not considered and addressed those reports. It set aside the denial and…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses termination and remands recurrence claim (ECAB 24-0597)
A postal rural carrier challenged the termination of wage-loss and medical benefits after accepted injuries and sought compensation for a recurrence of total disability. The Board found that OWCP had not met its burden to terminate the existing benefits effective April 12, 2024. It reversed that…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses termination of wage and medical benefits (ECAB 24-0581)
A postal employee challenged OWCP's termination of benefits for an accepted back injury. The Board found that the second-opinion report OWCP relied on did not adequately support the conclusion that wage-loss disability and medical residuals had ended. It reversed the termination because OWCP had…
A.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies work-related emotional condition claim (ECAB 24-0287)
A Veterans Affairs nurse attributed anxiety and other symptoms to alleged errors and abuse in management and personnel matters. The Board found that the record did not establish a compensable employment factor for those allegations. It affirmed OWCP's denial without reaching the medical causation…
Xia v. Lina T. Ramey & Associates, Inc.
H-1B back-wage period extended and claims remanded
Lina T. Ramey & Associates terminated H-1B design engineer Ellen Xia but did not promptly notify immigration authorities or pay her return transportation costs. The administrative judge awarded back wages and transportation costs but barred Xia from testifying remotely based on a perceived conflict…
Halliday v. Transport Express, Inc.
Truck-safety complaint dismissal partly vacated
Truck driver William Halliday reported numerous equipment problems, including defective tires, an illuminated ABS warning light, an unsecured bumper, and unsecured hazardous material, before Transport Express ended his employment. The Board affirmed that Halliday did not actually refuse to operate…
M.A. and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Board upholds retirement-benefit overpayment recovery (ECAB 24-0884)
An OSHA safety technician received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld an $11,831.99 overpayment for the stated periods between 2020 and 2023. Although the worker was without fault, it…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board splits two reconsideration rulings (ECAB 24-0350)
A postal worker sought reconsideration twice after an injury claim decision. The Board upheld OWCP's finding that the June 2023 request was late and lacked clear evidence of error. It found that OWCP had applied the standard for timely reconsideration requests to the separate, untimely October 2023…
B.C. and Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service
Board reverses rescission of arm impairment award (ECAB 23-1018)
An Indian Health Service nurse challenged OWCP's removal of a schedule award for one additional percent of right arm impairment. The Board found that the medical opinion OWCP relied on rated the left arm, not the right arm at issue. OWCP had not obtained a supplemental opinion addressing the right…
K.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies COVID-19 claim and hearing request (ECAB 23-1100)
A Veterans Affairs boiler plant operator claimed COVID-19 after an alleged workplace exposure in December 2021. The Board found that the record did not establish symptoms or a positive test within 21 days of a covered exposure, as required by the applicable claim guidance. It also upheld OWCP's…
C.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board finds timely COVID-19 symptoms and remands (ECAB 23-0670)
A Veterans Affairs social worker claimed COVID-19 after a workplace exposure in July 2022. The Board found that her symptoms appeared within 21 days of the covered exposure, satisfying that timing requirement. It reversed OWCP's contrary decision and remanded for a new decision on whether she had…
S.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board accepts COVID-19 diagnosis without lab test (ECAB 23-0238)
A postal mail processing clerk claimed COVID-19 following work exposure in 2020. No laboratory result was available, but the Board found that a physician's reasoned diagnosis and explanation for the missing test met OWCP's diagnostic guidance. It reversed OWCP's denial and remanded for payment of…
Secretary of Labor v. Active Resources, Inc.
Intentional payment based on legal misunderstanding barred reopening
Active Resources intentionally paid a citation while rehabilitating a nonproducing mine because it believed payment meant the citation had been abated. MSHA later issued a section 104(b) order for failure to abate, prompting Active to argue that it would have contested the assessment if it had…
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex Petersburg, Virginia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2052, AFL-CIO
Federal Correctional Complex Petersburg and AFGE Local 2052 (FLRA WA-CA-21-0339): Authority upholds default on late answer
The Authority's General Counsel alleged that Federal Correctional Complex Petersburg unreasonably delayed responding to a union information request. The agency filed its answer two days after the 20-day deadline and offered no good cause for the delay. An administrative law judge treated the…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company and Matthew Zimmer, Roger Peterson employed by Northshore Mining Company
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company, et al. (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-0224): Flagrant walkway penalty increased on remand
An earlier judge found that Northshore failed to maintain elevated walkways, acted with reckless disregard and unwarrantable failure, and assessed a $60,000 penalty after rejecting MSHA's flagrant designation. The Commission affirmed, but the Eighth Circuit held that the violation was flagrant and…
Frederick B. Bateman v. Bluff Spur Coal Corporation
Bateman v. Bluff Spur Coal (BRB 24-0107): black lung benefits award affirmed
Frederick Bateman sought black lung benefits after coal mine work spanning several employers. On remand, a judge found 19.32 years of qualifying work and awarded benefits under the fifteen year presumption. The Board upheld her method of crediting pre-1978 work using Social Security earnings by…
Kevin Brady v. Texas Terminals, LP
Brady v. Texas Terminals (BRB 24-0024): weekly wage corrected, benefits denial affirmed
Kevin Brady sustained a back injury while working for Texas Terminals and later worked in an available modified escort job. After an earlier appeal, a judge calculated his preinjury average weekly wage using earnings from several employers and found that the escort job paid more, leaving no wage…
Kennith F. Meade v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Meade v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 24-0015): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Kennith Meade appealed the denial of his black lung benefits claim without legal representation. The judge credited him with 25.42 years of underground coal mine work but found that he had not established a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the judge's decision to give no…
Buster Vires v. ICG Hazard, LLC
Vires v. ICG Hazard (BRB 23-0466): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Buster Vires appealed the denial of his black lung benefits claim without legal representation. The Board upheld the judge's calculation of 13.03 years of coal mine employment, below the fifteen years needed for a statutory presumption. The judge had found pneumoconiosis and a totally disabling…
Rogers Tutuhukire v. SOC, LLC
Tutuhukire v. SOC (BRB 23-0454): denial of psychological injury benefits affirmed
Rogers Tutuhukire sought benefits for a claimed psychological injury after working as an armed security guard in Iraq. A judge denied the claim and held that Tutuhukire had not produced enough evidence to invoke the presumption linking an injury to his work. The Board reversed that intermediate…
Jerry R. Stockdill v. Carpentertown Coal & Coke Company
Stockdill v. Carpentertown Coal & Coke (BRB 23-0448): CT scans require another review
Jerry Stockdill sought black lung benefits after eighteen years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge denied benefits, finding that the evidence did not establish complicated pneumoconiosis or total disability. The Board held that the judge's own findings made the CT scan…
Pamela Menear on behalf of James Menear, Jr. v. Consol Mining Company, LLC
Menear v. Consol Mining Company (BRB 23-0440): miner's job duties need new findings
Pamela Menear pursued her late husband's black lung claim after a judge denied benefits. The judge found that James Menear was not totally disabled, in part because he treated his last mining job as medium labor. The Board found that the judge had not adequately explained which job Menear last…
Jimmy W. Crowley v. West Coal Corporation/Green Branch Mining
Crowley v. West Coal Corporation (BRB 23-0436): employer liability for black lung benefits affirmed
Jimmy Crowley's entitlement to black lung benefits was uncontested on appeal. Green Branch Mining argued that Key Mining should pay because Key had later mined at the same sites. The Board upheld the judge's finding that Key was not Green Branch's successor operator. West Coal retained the mining…
Ben H. Adams v. Desert Mining, Incorporated
Adams v. Desert Mining (BRB 23-0413): black lung benefits award affirmed
Ben Adams sought black lung benefits after 22.81 years of underground coal mine work. A judge initially awarded benefits based on complicated pneumoconiosis, then reconsidered and awarded benefits from the month the claim was filed under the fifteen year presumption. The Board upheld the finding of…
Wilson Katungye v. Constellis Group/Triple Canopy, Incorporated
Katungye v. Constellis Group/Triple Canopy (BRB 23-0376): settlement approval affirmed
Wilson Katungye sought benefits for hearing loss and a claimed psychological injury from security work in Iraq. After a judge awarded hearing loss medical care but denied the psychological injury claim, the parties settled both claims for $7,500, with a separate $12,500 attorney fee. Katungye…
Daniel Muniz Martinez v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated, Ingalls Shipbuilding Division
Martinez v. Huntington Ingalls (BRB 23-0370): employer attorney fee liability denied
Daniel Muniz Martinez sought Longshore Act benefits for work related hearing loss at Ingalls Shipbuilding. His employer initially contested the claim but paid some compensation within thirty days of receiving notice and later accepted responsibility for disability and medical benefits. Martinez's…
Kellis C. Barton v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Barton v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 23-0360): black lung benefits award affirmed after remand
Kellis Barton sought black lung benefits after 19.59 years of qualifying coal mine work. On remand, a judge found that his respiratory impairment prevented him from performing the heavy work of an electrician and repairman, then awarded benefits under the fifteen year presumption. The employer…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.